Battle of the ISUs at Redbird Arena on Saturday

[January 19, 2008]  NORMAL -- Illinois State (14-1, 4-0 MVC) and Indiana State (8-6, 2-2 MVC) face off in a tilt of the two Missouri Valley Conference ISUs at Redbird Arena on Saturday at 4:05 p.m. The Redbirds enter the contest on a 10-game winning streak, tied for the fourth-longest in program history, and the Sycamores have won their last two Valley tilts. The game will feature two of the Valley's top three scorers in Redbird junior guard Kristi Cirone (22.0 ppg) and Sycamore senior center Laura Rudolphi (18.5 ppg).

Saturday's game is Faculty/Staff Day at Redbird Arena, to recognize the Illinois State faculty and staff for their efforts in the campus community.

"Indiana State has changed some personnel, but I don't think their game plan has changed a lot," said Redbird head coach Robin Pingeton. "They are very up-tempo and like to put a lot of points on the board. They shoot from 3-point range very well and can mix things up defensively with both full-court zone and man-to-man pressure. It is a strong program, and I have no doubt they will be able to give us a battle on Saturday."

The Redbirds-Sycamores series

Illinois State leads the all-time series with Indiana State 35-32. The Redbirds' longest winning streak in the series was 12 games, spanning 1980-87, but the Sycamores had an equally impressive streak in 1997-2001, winning 10 straight matchups. That streak started a trend of recent dominance for the Sycamores, who have won 17 of the last 26 meetings. Pingeton is 5-5 all-time against the Sycamores.

Big 3 for Krick

Sophomore guard Maggie Krick is only midway through her second season at ISU, but she has already established herself as one of the biggest threats from beyond the arc in program history. Krick made three trifectas against Bradley and became the 15th player in school history to amass 50 3-pointers in her career. She is second on the team with 23 3-pointers this season.

Valley girl

Junior guard Kristi Cirone is making a bid for another MVC Player of the Year award with her performance in the beginning of conference play this season. Cirone leads the Valley in scoring (22.0 ppg) and is third in assists (5.0 apg), 3-point field goal percentage (.611) and free-throw percentage (.950); fourth in assists-to-turnover ratio (2.86); eighth in field goal percentage (.617); and 13th in steals (1.7 spg). She has been named Valley Player of the Week in each of the first two weeks of conference play. Cirone eclipsed 20 points in each of the first three Valley games this season, for just the second time in her career, and her 24.3 point average over those games is the best scoring stretch of her career. After leading the Redbirds in scoring just twice in the nonconference schedule, Cirone has been atop the ISU scoring column in all four conference games.

(Game notes)

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[Text from file received from Jimmy Knodel, assistant media relations director, Illinois State University]